Many automated and manual manufacturing systems consume an inordinate amount of time inspecting, verifying and documenting that processes have occurred completely and accurately. Factors that contribute to this non-value-adding time are: creating accurate inspection references, getting a human inspector into proximity of the features to be inspected, and requiring human, rather than fully automated inspection.
Laser projected tolerance patterns are used by inspectors that are physically present at the part being manufactured. This process is inefficient because the inspector must move to the part to perform the inspection. In addition to being inefficient, there may be hazards present in the physical environment that the inspector must move through and to, such as moving machinery, sharp edges, trip hazards, etc. The inspector must either wait at the part while processing is occurring (wasting inspector time and/or being hazardous), or move to another part that requires inspection. The synchronization of the processing and inspection is rarely optimal, resulting in wasted cycle time while waiting for the inspector, or wasted inspector time, waiting for the process.
Cameras are also used inefficiently for inspection. On large parts, a camera must be aimed and zoomed in order to obtain detailed images to validate fabrication. Traditional pan/tilt systems are slow and inaccurate and must be programmed to automatically, but slowly, be aimed at the region of interest for the inspection process.
When a human inspector looks at a feature on a part relative to projected laser tolerances they will typically “buy off” the inspection by entering a code on a terminal. This is a record that indicates that the inspection was acceptable, but provides no physical evidence that can be referred to, or reevaluated, at a later date.
Another common problem in manufacturing is the unintended presence of anything that is not part of the design. In aerospace practice, this is called “FOD” (Foreign Objects or Debris). FOD can take many forms, ranging from tools or parts (rulers, screws, labels, protective cover material) left in a product, to things that fall out of peoples' pockets (coins, note paper) to random things present in the manufacturing environment, such as dead insects, dead leaves tracked in on people's shoes, even feathers and excrement from a bird that may be trapped in the factory.
There is a need for methods and systems for efficient inspection that provide a record and detect foreign objects, and enable remote inspection.